New Delhi, Jun 9: Several BJP leaders who were not retained in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers congratulated him for his third consecutive term at the helm and said they will continue to serve as party workers. Anurag Thakur, who served as the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the previous term of the Modi government, said he would keep working as a BJP worker and contribute to fulfilling Modi's resolve to make India a developed country.

He congratulated Modi and his "team of ministers" and said all those who have been picked for ministerial positions in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government are "very competent". They will make "every possible effort" to take the country on the path of progress, Thakur said. In the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, Thakur was reelected to the Lower House of Parliament from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh. Modi Government Swearing-In Ceremony 2024: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and JP Nadda Take Oath as Union Cabinet Ministers (Watch Videos).

"I am a party worker first. The people of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh have elected me to the Lok Sabha for the fifth consecutive time. Being elected to the Lok Sabha for the fifth time is itself a great honour," he told reporters here when asked if he would be getting some key responsibility in Himachal Pradesh as he is not being inducted into Modi's new council of ministers.

Thakur said that "the BJP has given me the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha polls five times. There cannot be a bigger opportunity than this for me". "I worked as a party worker in the past and would continue to work as a party worker in the future. Our entire effort is to take India on the path of progress. All of us will walk together because India is important, the Modi government is important and the country's progress is important," he said. Piyush Goyal, First Time Lok Sabha Member, Takes Oath As Union Minister in Modi 3.0 Cabinet (Watch Video).

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who was the Minister of State for Information Technology, Electronics, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Jal Shakti in the last Modi government, said in a post on X that his 18-year-long stint in public service has come to an end. He deleted this post and wrote another clarifying that he meant to say that his 18-year-long stint as an MP and three years as a Minister of State has come to an end.

Chandrasekhar contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram seat but lost to Congress' Shashi Tharoor. "A tweet - tweeted by a new young intern in my team - thanking everyone for their inspiration and support during these 18 years of public service as MP, has created some confusion among a section of people about my future political work," he said.

"My work and commitment to taking India forward and Thiruvananthapuram, as a karyakarta of BJP remains as relentless as before. Thank you all who replied/msgd/called," his new post on X said. Smriti Irani, who served as a Union minister in the last two terms of the Modi government, congratulated Modi for creating history by taking oath as prime minister for the third consecutive time.

"Under your decisive leadership, India's development journey will get new momentum and the resolve to make India a 'developed India' by 2047 will get new strength. Many best wishes to ‘pradhansevak' Modi ji for a bright tenure,” she wrote on X. In the just concluded polls, Irani lost to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi seat. Ashwini Choubey, who was also a minister in the previous government, posted on X a video clip of Modi taking oath as prime minister, with a caption, “The oath is of a glorious India, the resolution is of a developed nation, the voice of 140 crore countrymen”.